The myth that the 1983–1985 famine in Eritrea was totally man made!
The myth The popular UK myth that endures to this day is that it was only occured in Eritrea and Tigre because of a Derg inspired army scorched earth campaign against local separatists. The flip side to this myth is that the rest of Ethiopia was, in theory, a peaceful Utopia. This was so untrue! Background In 1974 a pro-Soviet Marxist–Leninist military junta, the "Derg", led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, deposed Haile Selassie and established a one-party communist state. Haile Selassie was imprisoned and allegedly died in unclear circumstances, a rumour being that he was suffocated with an ether-soaked pillow. Before the 1983–85 famine, two decades of wars of national liberation (Tigey, the Oromo's lands, Eritrea and the Ogaden) and other anti-government conflict had raged throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Ethiopian province of Gojjam, Hararghe, Tigray, and Wollo all received record low rainfalls in the mid-1980s. Locations "the Ethiopian famine" of the 1980s refers to the severe famine in 1983-85 centered on Tigray and northern Wollo, which further affected Eritrea, Begemder and northern Shewa. Causes Weather The Ethiopian province of Gojjam, Hararghe, Tigray, and Wollo—all received record low rainfalls in the mid-1980s. Civil war In 1958, a group of Eritreans founded the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM). The organization mainly consisted of Eritrean students, professionals and intellectuals. It engaged in clandestine political activities intended to cultivate resistance to the centralizing policies of the imperial Ethiopian state. On 1 September 1961, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), under the leadership of Hamid Idris Awate, waged an armed struggle for independence. In 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the territory. The was continued until independence in 1991. Towards the end of January 1991, a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) captured Gondar, the ancient Tigrayan capital city, Bahar Dar, and Dessie. In the south, a separate and simultaneous cause was the government's response to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) insurgency. In 1984, President Mengistu Haile Mariam announced that 46% of the Ethiopian Gross National Product would be allocated to military spending, creating the largest standing army in sub-Saharan Africa; the allocation for health in the government budget fell from 6% in 1973–4 to 3% by 1990–1. Thieving leaders and local crooks In January 1985, the RAF carried out the first airdrops from Hercules C-130s delivering food to the starving people. Other countries including Sweden, UK, FRG, GDR, Poland, Canada, United States and the Soviet Union were also involved in the international response. As far as can be ascertained, Live Aid gave most of its aid to the Tigrean and Eritrean warlords, while OXFAM gave loads of money to the Derg treasury. Local thugs and bandits also hijacked UN aid trucks in several places. Failed economics The pro-Communist Derg deposed and imprisoned the emperor on September 12, 1974. In addition, the Derg in 1975 nationalized most industries and private and somewhat secure urban real-estate holdings. Martyrs' Memorial in Mekelle. But, mismanagement, corruption, and general hostility to the Derg's violent rule, coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare with the separatist guerrilla movements in Tigray, led to a drastic fall in general productivity of food and cash crops. In October 1978, the Derg announced the National Revolutionary Development Campaign to mobilize human and material resources to transform the economy, which led to a Ten-Year Plan (1984/85-1993/94) to expand agricultural and industrial output, forecasting a 6.5% growth in GDP and a 3.6% rise in per capita income. Instead, per capita income declined 0.8% over this period. Famine scholar Alex de Waal observes that while the famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s is usually ascribed to drought, "closer investigation shows that widespread drought occurred only some months after the famine was already under way." Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription, and political repression, and went to live in neighboring countries and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora for the first time. Population growth The population of Ethiopia increased rapidly despite famines in the previous decades. In 1950 the Ethiopian population was just 18 million and in 1985 the population increased to 41 million, up by just over 200% in that time span. Eritrea's population was 5,250,000 in 1997, 4,298,269 in 2002 and 4,954,645 in 2016. Ethiopia's population was 67,673,031 in 2003 and 102,403,196 2016. War with Somalia The 1977 Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War, was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the disputed Ethiopian region Ogaden starting with the Somali Democratic Republic's invasion of Ethiopia. The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia to instead start supporting Ethiopia, whereas the United States conversely ceased its support of Ethiopia and started supporting Somalia. The war ended when the Americans brokered a ceasefire. Ethiopia was saved from a major defeat and a permanent loss of territory due to a massive airlift of military supplies ($7 Billion), the arrival of 16,000 Cuban troops, 1,500 Soviet advisors and 2 brigades from Yemen, also airlifted to reinforce Addis Ababa. Despite this, large parts of the Ogaden remained in Somali hands until 1980. The 1994 to date Insurgency in Ogaden is an ongoing separatist insurgency, waged by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) against the Ethiopian government. The war began in 1994 when the ONLF attempted to recreate the Greater Somalian state by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia. Death toll Close to 8,000,000 people became famine victims during the drought of 1984, and over 1,000,000 died. Also see #1977 Ogaden War #1983–1985 Ethiopia Famine #1980 famine in Karamoja, Uganda #1972–73 Ethiopia Famine #Famines Sources #http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14779344 #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%931985_famine_in_Ethiopia #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrea #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigray_Province #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Empire #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency_in_Ogaden #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oromo_people Category:Eritrea Category:Ethiopia Category:Pham Category:Famines Category:Deaths Category:People Category:Destroying false news!